AMD delays Phenom 9700 and 9900 processors -- few notice

As things go from bad to worse, AMD just slipped the shipping date of their 2.4GHz Phenom 9700 and 2.6GHz 9900 CPUs. Announced for Q1, the quad-core CPUs are now expected for Q2. That means their 2.8GHz and 3GHz procs, expected in late Q2, will likely slip as well. However, that's not all good news for Intel fans if Intel chooses to delay the release of their own processors to maximize sales of existing processor line-ups. In the mean time, AMD is expected to focus on its tri-core "Toliman" processors. Well, there's always hope that you can accomplish in court what you couldn't in the marketplace, eh AMD?

[Mark Brakenhoff @ Jan 11th 2008 3:41PM]

AMD slipping isn't good news at all. No competition = higher prices. Think of that before you go fanboy crazy.

[Richard @ Jan 11th 2008 3:46PM]

Who is this AMD you speak of? Oh wait, that's what people will be saying in five years from now, sorry for being such an early bird.

[Abuzar @ Jan 11th 2008 3:47PM]

How the hell are they "focusing" on their tri cores? They are basically quad core phenoms which didn't pass all the tests and had one core disabled.

[Chebwa @ Jan 11th 2008 3:47PM]

Is it just me, or did AMD go from being a legitimate competitor to being a bunch of technologically lagging cry babies?

[Sander de Regt @ Jan 11th 2008 4:29PM]

Only in the same way that Intel was a technologically lagging cry baby, when all they had were the 'old' Pentium 4s that you could use to fry eggs, while AMD's Opterons ran circles around them.

[Chebwa @ Jan 11th 2008 3:47PM]

Is it just me, or did AMD go from being a legitimate competitor to being a bunch of technologically lagging cry babies?

[Chris @ Jan 11th 2008 3:51PM]

Mabe they're hiding something awsome like an 8 core 45nm phenom. Sigh......we can all dream. I just want a new intel quad core by 2 months.

[Neebs @ Jan 11th 2008 3:52PM]

Yes, it is just you for both contexts.

[Chebwa @ Jan 11th 2008 3:52PM]

OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. I give up on commenting for the day.

[John P @ Jan 11th 2008 3:53PM]

We heard you the first time chebwa. AMD just needs to forget they ever tried to do the phenom core, I think. Even I'm prepared to go Intel on my next upgrade if things dont get alot better soon.

[BigPana @ Jan 11th 2008 4:24PM]

Thanks alot John P, that could have been funny...

[Ian @ Jan 11th 2008 4:28PM]

Doubtless the AG of NY will blame Intel for this slippage.

[System48 @ Jan 11th 2008 4:58PM]

Exactly, if only Intel would just stop selling processors then AMD would have time to get ahead.

[BigPana @ Jan 11th 2008 4:24PM]

OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. I give up on commenting for the day.




j/k

[L.Rawlins @ Jan 11th 2008 4:30PM]

Something like a Phenom-enon...

[wud_e @ Jan 11th 2008 5:03PM]

It's cool. Let us work the bugs out guys. ;)

[mike @ Jan 11th 2008 5:16PM]

I love how everybody is kicking AMD when they are down. If it hadn't been for them over the past decade we'd all still be paying $800 each for the next Pentium III variant.
It is decidedly to EVERYONES best interest that AMD become hotly competitive in the main system chip arena again and soon!
Well, everyone except Intel that is... who history shows is more than happy to operate as the only kid on the block, handing out slight incremental increases in their technology for huge dollar sums if no market force is there to challenge them.
Then again, I forget that most of the readers on this board probably aren't old enough to remember the good old days.
If you are lucky you will not have a history lesson forced upon you by market conditions, rather than just getting a clue from a book.

- mike

[leo @ Jan 12th 2008 4:33AM]

I don't think that people are "kicking AMD when they're down" . . . The vast majority of people (including Intel supporters) have been hoping that they pull through. I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Intel itself would invest in AMD like Microsoft did when Apple almost bankrupt. It could head-off antitrust issues and be cheaper than having to sue other companies trying to enter the x86 market.

[mike @ Jan 12th 2008 7:01AM]

Yes, leo, I think your right.
I do think most people really taking the situation in are hoping they pull through.
I guess I was just trying to point out to all the fan boys with short sight that they really don't want AMD to fail, even if they are pro Intel.
I don't think most of the kids realize that.

- mike

[mike @ Jan 11th 2008 5:17PM]

I love how everybody is kicking AMD when they are down. If it hadn't been for them over the past decade we'd all still be paying $800 each for the next Pentium III variant.
It is decidedly to EVERYONES best interest that AMD become hotly competitive in the main system chip arena again and soon!
Well, everyone except Intel that is... who history shows is more than happy to operate as the only kid on the block, handing out slight incremental increases in their technology for huge dollar sums if no market force is there to challenge them.
Then again, I forget that most of the readers on this board probably aren't old enough to remember the good old days.
If you are lucky you will not have a history lesson forced upon you by market conditions, rather than just getting a clue from a book.

- mike

[Ruben @ Jan 11th 2008 8:58PM]

So you actually think no other semi-conductor manufacturer would come about and take the place that AMD wouldnt have had they not succeeded in the past? Its business, and any company would love to get their hands on the personal computer space, considering the amount of money there is to be made.

If AMD goes, there will be others, and there is no doubt about it.

I think Intel should worry about the Cell, if they should ever re-tool it to function as a CISC with X86 capability (which would require quite a bit of retooling, and might not even be able to retain the capability it has).

[mike @ Jan 12th 2008 6:48AM]

Why would you think anyone else should, of necessity, fill that niche?
AMD was certainly not the only company that tried.
There is nothing in market economics which dictates a single monopolistic player can not control an industry for great lengths of time.
In fact, the entire situation is a long way away from any perfect free market idea at all.
The cost of entrance is unimaginably high, and that is just for the research technology and production. It says nothing of actually competing with the juggernaut already at the trough which is not only gorging itself but also twisting the arm of the attendants not to feed the newcomers.
Even if the cell could be retooled as you say, or if any other better mouse trap comes along, they still have to get it accepted in the market and that isn't easily done even if some deep pockets come along and try it.
Somebody eventually probably will do it; but, it may be a long way off.
No, I stand by my point. If AMD slips completely out of the picture and we are left with just Intel in the 'high power' stand alone consumer main chip space, then it is a huge blow to the march of progress in that arena.
It simply costs too much to innovate. Without competition to do it, Intel will not do it.

- Mike

[pilot101 @ Jan 11th 2008 7:41PM]

Don't loose faith! Amd will come back! maybe not this year, but lets wait in 2009 when amd fusion comes out. If they fail us then i don't know... fire all the upper management and start the company from scratch.

[Ruben @ Jan 11th 2008 9:07PM]

Thats the problem with AMD right now. They keep all people that like their products "waiting". Besides the new 3 series ATI cards (which are only good because of their "discounted" price), they have nothing good "now". Sure, they have a lot of things coming in the future, but how much longer are people going to wait, and quite frankly, talk means nothing if the benchmarks don't deliver, so if this "Fusion" processor is similar to this round of releases, then they are truly dead.

They should be extremely careful about the hype they place on their products. The Phenom is a clear result of that mistake.

[Motoken @ Jan 11th 2008 7:54PM]

i ponder getting an Intel chip for my next mother board. but.......no, unless something really bad happens to AMD.... still my support for AMD is down to 65% if it goes below 50 then I'll go Intel.

[kojo87 @ Jan 12th 2008 1:29AM]

same here. i really like AMD and i think the Phenom series is their chance to prove they still got the ability to make good chips. im also looking forward to the Spider platform and ATi's next big thing. they've actually been on a hot streak lately. i got a new HD3870 and it is great! better bang for the buck than NVIDIA. then again thats whan AMD is all about.

[johnnychipface @ Jan 12th 2008 3:44AM]

Ati cards also work better in xfire/sli than nvidia cards.

[torqueo @ Jan 11th 2008 8:54PM]

Have you guys (that is: the dupe posters) been hit with a retard stick or something? Stop clicking 'add your comments' twice? Durr?

[Chebwa @ Jan 11th 2008 10:43PM]

Nah man. It's strange. I comment, I get a typical "page not found" screen, and until the comment works, none of the others show up. Note how my icon appears at the LAST comment of the incredible amount of dupes. It's like when the comment "takes," it brings all the previous "page not found" comments with it.

I'm not a moron.

It's just very odd.

[mike @ Jan 12th 2008 6:55AM]

Yeah.. I've had the same experience posting here a couple of times.
I don't even get a page not found notice... I just get a blank page... I get the void, as it were.
Then if I go and look, my comment is not there.. but if I back up and submit again then when it does go through it goes through for each time it missed as well.

On the other hand, I was actually hit with a stick recently. However, I don't really think "retard sticks" exist. I think that is just some D&D stuff or something... Or maybe some religious mumbo-jumbo?

- mike

[Joshua Walters @ Jan 11th 2008 11:16PM]

And to think, I just bought my 9600!

Oh well, I will just upgrade in 6 months or so, and pass my lightly used tech trash onto my parents.

[z0phi3l @ Jan 12th 2008 12:40PM]

Hey AMD, focusing on thri-cores is a BAD idea, focus on your quad cores or something better than defective quads you're trying to sell us as a "new" thing